I've wondered about Rodin's famous sculpture. Is he engaged in deep thought or sitting around wasting time? And why isn't he wearing pants? I ask the same of myself. Here we comment on well, mostly politics. Or we may just sit! If you like it, tell a friend. If not, tell us, but please read the GROUND RULES before you do.

Chuck Todd, tribune of the Idiot Punditocracy and defender of the Establishment Republican Party's virgin honor, made the panicked assertion that Newt Gingrich has no "mainstream media" endorsements. OH, MY. And absolutely true. To which I say, so what?

Newt has the most important endorsement of all: The Thinker's.

We don't give out endorsements lightly, and we're a perfect two-for-two. In 2008 we gave Hillary her due before endorsing Barack Obama. Of course, he won. And now, in the Republican South Carolina contest, Newt took the win following our Thursday endorsement. We were always intrigued by Newt's irresistible EVIL, which is a perfect match for an evil party. The only question yet unanswered until this week was of his political viability and seriousness of purpose.

Yes, Newt's racism is evil and despicable. But unlike Chris, who is terrified and unsettled by Newt's ascent, we believe his rise will lead to the ultimate destruction of the Republican Party as currently constituted. It is a racist, white elitist party that is out of touch with the people's economic and existential pain. And it is an evil, pernicious cancer on the body politic that must be excised so that the body politic may heal and the two-party "system" survive.

Newt Gingrich is the perfect vehicle for the Republican Party's destruction. The "flawed vessel" of our dreams. And so, with more faith in the better angels of the American people's nature than the Beltway Media cabal, We reaffirm our endorsement of Mr. Gingrich to be the nominee of the Republican Party.

As C. J. Cherryh no-so-famously (sorry, no Winston) said: "Deal with the Devil if the Devil has a constituency — and don't complain about the heat."

Unlike MSNBC, the Catholic Church doesn't flip the "dog whistle" when it comes to calling out the racists and race-baiters. I, for one, love them for it and am very proud of my Catholic heritage, despite its issues. My experience with the Church, as that of millions of Catholics, was positive and life-changing. I'm sure our friend, Chris Matthews, feels the same way. Take this as a gentle reminder, Chris. Hopefully you'll keep the Church's admonition in mind, when covering the 2012 elections. Racism should never, ever, be brushed aside as Republican "politics as usual;" it should be front and center, whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. I don't want to hear Michael Steele's rationalizations. You shouldn't need to be reminded of what's unacceptable under any circumstances; of what is immoral.

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum

As Catholic leaders who recognize that the moral scandals of racism and poverty remain a blemish on the American soul, we challenge our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail. Mr. Gingrich has frequently attacked President Obama as a “food stamp president” and claimed that African Americans are content to collect welfare benefits rather than pursue employment. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Santorum remarked: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” Labeling our nation’s first African-American president with a title that evokes the past myth of “welfare queens” and inflaming other racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders.

Some presidential candidates now courting “values voters” seem to have forgotten that defending human life and dignity does not stop with protecting the unborn. We remind Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum that Catholic bishops describe racism as an “intrinsic evil” and consistently defend vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans. At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can’t address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting.

As the South Carolina primary approaches, we urge Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum and all presidential candidates to reject the politics of racial division, refrain from offensive rhetoric and unite behind an agenda that promotes racial and economic justice.

Friday, January 20, 2012

This passage in last night's debate illustrates Mitt Romney's collapse, I think, as well as any poll. The candidate is adrift, scared not just of his shadow — Newt Gingrich — but of his own words. When Romney opens a line of attack against Gingrich — the Reagan diary — he does so fearfully:

"Let's — let's — let me — let me say — let me say one — one of the things I find amusing is listening — is listening to how — how much credit is taken in Washington for what goes on on Main Street. I — I mean, Mr. Speaker, it was — it was — you talk about all the things you did with Ronald Reagan and — and — and the Reagan revolution and the jobs created during the Reagan years and so forth. I mean, I looked at the Reagan diary. You're mentioned once in Ronald Reagan's diary. And it's — and in the diary, he says you had an idea in a meeting of — of young congressmen, and it wasn't a very good idea, and he dismissed it. That — that's the entire mention. And — I mean, he mentions George Bush a hundred times. He even mentions my dad once. So I — I — I — there's a sense that Washington is pulling the strings in America."

Mittens paused 19 times in this brief soliloquy — 12 times before mentioning the diary. That's one scared candidate; scared of Newt Gingrich. It was Romney who used the kitchen heat metaphor. Now, it seems, he can't handle the heat from refusing to release his taxes — something he should have prepared for years before this. He does all right when scripted but is incapable of improvising against a vicious attack dog like Gingrich.

There is one other unspoken issue in a state as racist and xenophobic as South Carolina: Romney's father was born in Mexico. The media, including CNN's John King, who mentioned this, assumes the average voter knows this. I believe it came as an unpleasant surprise to many in that auditorium. Romney was clearly ill at ease. And suddenly one other dimension is added to his Mormon 'issue'. Mitt Romney, as a result, is in freefall, having dropped from 20, then 10 points ahead, to falling six points behind Newt Gingrich today. The media talked of Rick Perry's endorsement of Gingrich, overlooking the much more important Sarah Palin endorsement which locked in much of the Tea Party vote behind Newt. Nationally, Gallup's polling director said of Romney's numbers: "Clearly things are collapsing."

As for Newt Gingrich, his time-tested tactic of attacking the so-called "liberal media" to deflect attention from himself is on steroids: Consider that Newt began by attacking Chris Wallace (FOX); then he lay into Maria Bartiromo (CNBC); next he put Juan Williams (FOX) in "his place"; and last night summoned up his open-marriage righteous indignation to lash out venomously at John King of CNN. Yikes. Members of the media who sign up to question the candidates at the Republican debates should be getting combat pay.

Bottom line: If Newt wins tomorrow, which seems almost — almost — a foregone conclusion, the Republican Party will be in a world of hurt. And the Democrats will be in an Apollo celebratory mood:

Remember how I've been noting that lately the GOP candidates, two in particular, have been riffing off my material? You might reasonably think it's just so much hubris on my part, or maybe it's the reverse and I'm writing off their script. I don't think so. Honestly, the only reason I mention this is that whenever something like this comes up in the debates my initial reaction is, 'hey wait a minute, that sounds familiar', followed by: 'I wrote that!'

Now, it's possible that Mittens or Newt may have intoned something that got buried deep in my subconscious while I was sleeping, but I don't watch their campaign rallies or speeches as a cure for insomnia, or anything else, and I'm not about to do a Lexis-Nexis search. Mostly, my thinking was the rational dismissal, 'ah, it's that old Zeitgeist rearing its head again.' But it kept happening. So, what the hell, I decided to document it and let the reader decide.

If anything, it's become fodder for the Idiot Punditocracy. Here's CNN's Soledad O'Brien having a panic attack over a phrase that Newt stole from ME and used in the debate on Monday, January 16:

Soledad O'Brien scrutinized Gingrich's choice of words "unilateral disarmament" to describe a campaign free from negative ads. Gingrich had defended his attack ads on Mitt Romney noting that when faced with attack ads from his opponents, "if you unilaterally disarm, you might as well drop out of the race."

"When you hear a candidate talking about his fellow candidates and using the words unilateral disarmament, that's almost scary. I mean, how worried are you about the damage that Newt Gingrich could do to the front-runner?"

Gosh Soledad, I'm so sorry to have scared you or stirred such consternation within the Idiot Punditocracy (you too, Ron Brownstein — when you lie with idiots you risk catching Teh Stoopid)... Would you feel any better if you knew the source, Soledad?

This is ME: Written on Friday the 13th as gratuitous advice to Dylan Ratigan:

Name names and point the finger at the real villains; what do you expect, I ask again — for Democrats to unilaterally disarm? Not gonna happen, and thank your oracle for it.

Okay, whatever. You might say Zeitgeist. I can dig it. But here's the thing: It happened before and it happened again! Moreover, Mittens follows a different pattern from Newt. In Mittens' case, he (or his 'people') likes to flip a phrase of mine to give it the exact opposite Republican meaning. There was this from Mittens' 1/10 victory speech in New Hampshire:

"The middle class has been crushed..." Blah-blah-blah. As if this guy has any earthly idea of what constitutes the middle class.

ME, from a 1/5 post, on the devastation wrought by actual Big Government Republicans:

"[T]he actual Big Government Republicans waged two wars off the books, enriched beyond measure their crony capitalist pals, and crushed the middle class and unions."

In last night's debate, Romney said this about 'Obamacare':

"[W]here Barack Obama believes that he knows better for the American people what's best for them. He's wrong. We're right."

ME, from a 1/17 post, on how Progressives were right about the futility of President Obama seeking to compromise with Republicans while Chris Matthews and his "centrist" pals were wrong:

"We warned the President, it's not gonna happen, time's a-wastin' Mr. President, strike while the iron's hot. Guess what, we Progressives were right, you and Chris were wrong."

Same words. Opposite meaning. Zeitgeist? Random Coincidence? I don't think so. Here's my theory: Whoever writes Mittens' and Newt's material is probably under pressure to come up with catchy sound bites daily, and certainly for major events such as debates and victory speeches. So they cheat. They know they can't poach from popular internet media sources that absorb tens of thousands to millions of hits daily. So they steal from ME, one who Lawrence might have accurately described as a "smart" but "obscure" blogger. We're small but we get around.

Given Mittens' penchant for quite deliberately, it seems, flipping the meaning of my catchy sound bites, I'm thinking we might have gotten under their skin with our unflattering comic graphics of Mittens in drag, hiding from Newt behind his "SUPAPAC" mommy's skirts, as a vulture in top hat distributing pink slips, or with his hair standing on end as Newt prepares to go on the attack.

How pathetic is it that Mittens lacks the imagination to use his own words? Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have always spoken for themselves. Paul even regretted not being able to communicate clearly. But at least it's his words. Ironic that the truly genuine candidates stand to finish 3-4 in the South Carolina Primary. But ultimately, the joke's on the top two. So come on back. Phony gets you only so far, as Mittens is discovering. Even for "someone who has lived — (applause) — in the real streets of America."

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Can I say this, with respect, but Rachel is an attractive woman, downright HOT, she glowed on "the best day in politics, ever!" Here's hoping there will be more days like these. Funny thing, though: Was it just my set or did anyone notice the audio go out when Rachel was off-camera reporting on the most controversial stories, during the quotation graphics parts. Strange, sounded like crackling interference, and for us conspiracists, kinda sinister ...

Rachel's material — Best New Thing In The World Today: Iconic Still Images From the Campaign Trail.

TEXAS GOVERNOR PERRY FIRES FIRST SALVO — Declaring Texas and South Carolina "ARE AT WAR WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!", to WILD applause from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the bloodthirsty audience whooped out spontaneous Rebel yells, Governor Perry dropped out of the presidential race two days later, throwing his support to Georgian Newt Gingrich. Remember — Fort Sumter, South Carolina is where it all began.

Why Is This Crazy Woman Applauding "WAR WITH THE FEDERAL GOVT."?

This immediately fueled speculation of a schism in the CGOP ("C" for "Confederate") between the weak pro-Union faction (Romney and drop-out Huntsman) and the Secessionists led by Perry, and many believe, the secretive Ron Paul, a Texan whose mild demeanor belies his support from "The New Confederacy" and "Stormfront" among other Secessionist, White Supremacist, and militia groups. Newt Gingrich and Pennsylvanian Rick Santorum, one the quintessential political opportunist and the other a social conservative populist, take a middle weak Union-strong States Rights path. The schism and incendiary language unsettled pundit historians who saw parallels between this New Confederate Republican Party and that of the 1860 Democratic Party, mere months before the Civil War broke out.

Before heading back to Texas, presumably to organize regional militias for the imminent "WAR" with the Federal Government, principal plotter and war instigator Rick Perry posed for this group photo with fellow Party conspirators, who had gathered at a heavily armed, "secret undisclosed location" to play war games. That's a lifesize cutout of Robert E. Lee (Perry to Lee's left), otherwise we're in real trouble:

Meghan McCain, that is. What is it about these Republican Gen-X women and their HIDEOUS valley girl accents? Meghan is right out of central casting; the way she bobbled her head and rolled her eyes as the segment ended on an anti-Republican note was classic. Why do the suits think this is compelling political commentary? Is Martin forced by NBC News President Steve Capus to book these Republicans, deliberately turning off his core audience? Okay, I understand, her dad went through it, but she was a kid and doesn't remember a thing. Oops.

Does Capus really believe we don't know MSNBC's dirty little secret: That all of its high profile Republican hires for this election cycle — Michael Steele, Steve Schmidt, Meghan McCain — are Romney Republicans? So much so that in a slip of the tongue "team player" Chris Matthews asked two of them to remove their partisan Romney hats and put on their "analyst" hats. Not exactly Howard Fineman and Gene Robinson territory. This, quite apart from Moron Joe and Willie The Wingnut, et al, S.E. Cupp (she's cute, sexy frames, proper diction, we'll take her), Ron Christie, some asshole named Boris, Republican Establishment faux jounalist Mark (Obama's 'a dick') Halperin, Susan Page, who doesn't even try to mask her pro-Romney bias, the POLITICO gaggle of idiot pundits, GQ man about town Jonathan 'el Bloomberg centrista' Capehart, and we might as well call MSNBC the "Romney Establishment Republican channel."

Keep in mind, the infinitely annoying crazy libertarian Dylan Ratigan was excluded; only because I believe he's well intentioned and possibly redeemable, as are some others like Jonathan and his basketball buddies. Also, Dylan's borderline insane, which makes him interesting, in spurts. Martin seems to like Dylan and seems to exert a positive influence on him. Then there's the 1,000 pound elephant in the room, Steve Capus, who intervened disgracefully to tamp down reports of Romney's clumsy 'code language dog whistle' racist line in Iowa New Hampshire, used with exceeding skill by Gingrich in the debates — 'here's how it's done, Mitt,' he seemed to be saying — as President Carter noted, "the subtlety of racism" in Newt's language to a racist audience. It was clear and unambiguous, unlike MSNBC's clumsy reporting of racism in the Republican Party with a plethora of strange and insulting euphemisms by on-camera commentators to describe 'racism' and 'racist'.

Which begs the question, are there now seven words PLUS one that cannot be uttered in certain broadcast networks? Or, regarding Capus, as Donald Trump would famously say ... ? Too bad we can't recall Steve Capus. Martin, happy birthday! You're one of the good guys and, from this perspective, one of the accidental treasures at MSNBC. I hope they'll find a role for Martin Bashir in the special election coverages coming up, if a producer with brains and influence can be made to see the obvious.

OOPS ... Up by 34 votes. So instead of the mainstream/Beltway Media/Idiot Punditocracy frothing orgasmically that Romney is 2-for-2 heading for an early coronation in South Carolina, better rethink your idiot analyses, imbeciles of the Idiot Punditocracy (I'm doubling down). Here's what this really, actually means:

Rather than being the indispensable Republican juggernaut all Republican lemmings are dutifully instructed to fall in line behind, Romney is a DEEPLY FLAWED candidate who has yet to connect with Republican voters, let alone the electorate at large. He lost in the open contest, Iowa, despite committing millions to wounding but not destroying Newt Gingrich. He won well, but not convincingly, in New Hampshire, his backyard, where he owns a home for chrissakes! People are just not that into Mittens. He's being skewered nightly by the comedian class, challenged seriously from Comedy Central by Stephen Colbert who's running his SuperPac ads in South Carolina and telling voters that a vote for Herman Cain is a vote for Colbert, which has made Romney a running joke. And once you become a late night joke, you're finished; there's no amount of Sununu/Christie salvos that can rescue Mr. 15 percent. As a result, Mittens' negatives are rising as his poll numbers drop, and Newt Gingrich has found a new purpose with his attacks, gaining on Willard with each passing hour.

Republican South Carolina "true conservative" voters (whatever that means) have a decision to make: Split their votes between one dog pony Rick Santorum whose Iowa victory came at the expense of the withering $3 million fire Newt was taking from Romney's SuperPac, or Newt Gingrich, the most effective and realistic Stop-Romney candidate in the race.

Newt Gingrich has earned this blog's endorsement. We love how he's riffing off our rants. For instance, he said in the debate he would not "unilaterally disarm" with respect to SuperPacs, a phrase FIRST written here with respect to Democratic fund-raising. And calling his opponent "stupid" is one of our favorite, much-used adjectives. Don't you just love all this Zeitgeist that magically makes its way from our blog to Republican candidates' mouths? But our endorsement comes in appreciation of Newt Gingrich's ruthlessness, his "subtlety of racism" which has exposed the cowardice of the fake progressive channel, and all that he's doing to advance the Progressive cause and increase Democrats' chances of victory in November. Newt says he doesn't just want to "bloody" Mittens; he wants to "knock him down." Go get 'im, Mr. Speaker!

Memo To MSNBC suits: Seriously consider bringing Chris Hayes out of the COLD, so your fleeing viewers may enjoy his superior Progressive intellect, no matter how EXTRA stupid that makes Moron Joe and copycats Halperin-Heilemann look. Chris is so much smarter than his colleagues that he runs absolutely no risk of being CNN-ized and Capusized into 'how fascinating is your WINGNUT perspective', as Alex Wagner has become. Why else would Rachel's "I'm so jealous, it's the best-political-show-in-the-world!" come to us at the ungodly 6 a.m. Central time hour, hmm? Not that they would listen to Rachel anyway, except when endorsing (recommending?) Michael Steele's disastrous beginning-of-the-end for progressive programming hire.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Former President Jimmy Carter spared no verbal gymnastics when it came to calling a spade a spade: Where his former employee Chris Matthews uses words like "desultory" and "dog whistle" President Carter, interviewed by Piers Morgan, was clear and direct about what Newt Gingrich had said at the Republican debate:

“I think (Gingrich) has that subtlety of racism that I know quite well, that Gingrich knows quite well, that appeals to some people in Georgia. I’m not saying he’s racist, but he knows the subtle words to use to appeal to a racist group.”

OH, MY. Tell us, Chris, would you have to run this text by suit-sayer Steve Capus's prior censorship department before going on air with it? Steve to Chris: "Just say 'desultory' or 'dog whistle' or whatever; as long as you don't say the 'R' word, got it?!" "Sure, boss."

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WORD TO PROGRESSIVES: Never, ever trust the Beltway Media; they have a pronounced right-leaning, Establishment bias. Now that the campaign is underway, Chris Matthews is tilting far Establishment Right in choice of guests and words, leaning so far backward he's falling flat on his ass. Chris Matthews is already in CNN territory heading toward FOX.

Chris Matthews, the center-right (if you think the 20-yard line is the "center") Goldwater Republican of his youth, waxes sublime toward Andrew Sullivan on a favorite topic of Chris's, our "pragmatic center-right president" postulated by Sullivan's Newsweek piece. It hits President Obama's critics, and all of Chris's political erogenous zones from left and right: "Okay, you're a genius," gushes Chris to a blushing Andrew. Huh?

It should be noted that the simpatico Andrew is an eccentric gay "conservative," a Brit expatriate-cum-citizen, naturellement, like his late, great compadre Chris Hitchens, who idolized Ronald Reagan and now sees President Obama as today's Reagan. In my experience, people who change horses in midstream like Matthews and Sullivan may be entertaining ideological Yo-Yos, but seldom are they grounded in reality. And the Brit righties are notorious for being in a class of their own, a type of Tea Party carpetbagger. Maybe it has something to do with their natural, cultural affinity for tea. Here's a synopsis of Andrew's triangulating article:

"Andrew Sullivan has written a cover story for Newsweek Why Obama's Critics are Dumb. The right calls him a socialist, the left says he sucks up to Wall Street, and independents think he's a wimp. Andrew Sullivan on how the president may just end up outsmarting them all."

Matthews, of course, believes the Left's critique is "impractical." He calls Progressives "the flagellant class" dedicating his final minutes with boyfriend Andrew to dissing us. We're neither monolithic nor ideologues, which makes their little ditty surrounding ponytails, motorcycle gangs, and age groups stupid and irrelevant. If you've ever felt embarrassed for people making fools of themselves, you'll know what I mean.

Chris's colleague, Lawrence O'Donnell, thinks we're stupid and naïve, which is rich considering his fanciful, fictitious political analyses. One word, Larry-O: T-Paw. Here's Lawrence riffing off his condescending 'adee-tude' toward the Left: "And are you one of the disappointed Obama voter, who sits there and says, hey, wait a minute, how comes he has to get Congress' approval for these things he wants to do?"

That's really cute, Larry. No, you nitwit, we're the rightfully 'disappointed' Obama voters who urged him, time and again, to stop trying to compromise with these Republican ratbastards in hopes of peeling off one or two 'Maine' senators to make his health care look bipartisan. We warned the President, I warned him in an extended e-mail to the White House, posted here, it's not gonna happen, time's a-wastin' Mr. President, strike while the iron's hot. Guess what Lawrence, we Progressives were right, you and Chris were wrong. So STFU already. It's amazing, this capacity of yours for self-delusion inside your Beltway Media bubble.

Chris keeps flogging the same "public option" carcass (speaking of "flagellant class") without, still, understanding our practical, strategic concerns. At the end of the day, Chris, how many Republican votes were there for "Obamacare" and did it pass with the filibuster-proof 60 votes? Yeah, we know: *CRICKETS*. This pushback critique of Sullivan's piece, in my view, is spot-on target:

"The same kind of cronyism that poisoned his health-reform also invaded his handling of the financial crisis. This led not just to bailouts but the increasing concentration of financial power in the big six banks, setting up the system for another round of bailouts in the future.

At some point, the top players in lots of sectors in the American economy, in education, finance, military-industry, or health-care are operating less and less in a free market, and more and more in government licensed cartels.

In one sense there is a reason why critics of Obama on the right and left seem to contradict each other. At times we really do seem to be getting the worst of both worlds. The middle and working classes get the heartless layoff notices of capitalism, while the richest see their losses "socialized" away.

It's a problem Obama did not invent, but one he has intensified. And it isn't "dumb" to say so."

Questions for Chris: What exactly is "dog whistle" and what is it intended to signify? Are you forbidden from saying "racism" anymore when referring to the Republican Party? Even your commentary intimated it by mentioning "race" but never attributed racism to the racists. What are you afraid of? And why bring on Ron Christie, a lying Republican Uncle Tom to speak of this, instead of Gene Robinson, who was actually at the debate? Did you miss how loathsome and vile that Republican crowd was last night, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Repeat after me, Chris: "This is racism." Can you say it? Or have you turned into a coward in your old age. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

Twice as many signatures, more than one million, as the required 25% of votes cast in the last governor's election were collected in Wisconsin to recall its radical, union-busting governor Scott Walker. This is the beginning of the end for Scott Walker — he may have the Koch brothers millions, but the people have the VOTES — as Big Eddie, live from Wisconsin tonight, sheds tears of joy ... well, in spirit for sure:

"A brand new batch of Ron Paul newsletters raises questions for the libertarian Republican — as well as a host of embarrassing fresh passages to go along with such classics as “the coming race war” and “the federal-homosexual cover up on AIDS” from earlier reports.

Ron Paul claims “probably ten sentences out of 10,000 pages” were objectionable in his long-published newsletter series, even as he denies having ever written the content in question (or even having seen most of it). But, as TPM has reported and a new collection of Ron Paul newsletters posted by The New Republic confirms, racism, homophobia, and fringe conspiracy theories seem more like the newsletters’ raison d’etre than a rare aberration. In fact, even short promotional letters for the publication name-checked many of the most toxic passages."

Halfway through TRMS I kept saying to myself, 'this better be good'. It wasn't. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no less. Rachel, what were you thinking?

SIDEBAR: Watching a recent episode of Hardball in New Hampshire I was astonished, frankly, by how Chris Matthews and two no-name pundits were so matter-of-factly, so clinically discussing the ebb and flow of racism in the Republican primaries, one noting that it reaches its peak round about the South Carolina Primary and then wanes after Florida. I was stunned.

The mainstreaming of racism in Republican politics. There was no discussion of the immorality of racism and the despicable cancer it has become within the Republican Party. Rather, it was just so much political punditry. The banality of evil. And then the audience tonight, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day brought it home. They were odious, and racist, beyond comprehension. As a somber Gene Robinson expressed his disbelief, he said they reminded him of a crowd from 40 or 50 years ago, of another time in South Carolina, not today, not on this day.

Monday, January 16, 2012

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

The selfishness and timidity of “friends”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

who look the other way

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”

On being a progressive

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

And to those who lack moral courage

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

On the Roberts Court

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

And states codifying injustice

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

Greed, income inequality, and Republican values from Steele to Romney to Paul

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

To those who would repeal even modest efforts to expand health care for all citizens

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

To President Obama, and us — quoting HIM

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

Really. Considering the Giants played at Lambeau, absorbed all the BAD calls from pro-Pack officials — (1) The clear fumble that wasn't called by the NFL Institute for blind officials; and (2) The bogus 'roughing the passer' call that kept the Pack drive alive, leading to a touchdown.

"The Pack didn't play defense ..." Right. When DID THEY play defense during the season, eh Big Eddie? The offense carried them all year. Only this time, the Giants came up big in all three phases, Offense, defense, and special teams, recovering the onside kick.

Luck was the Hail Mary pass. But you know what, Eddie; that was payback for the bad calls. Great teams make their own luck. They took the bad calls without complaint and kept on truckin'. The Giants WON this game the old-fashioned way; they EARNED it. And if you think otherwise, Big Eddie, have I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!

Yo, Big Eddie: DENIAL AIN'T JUST A RIVER IN EGYPT. Here's a hankie.

PS - Good one: The Head booth referee making the bad calls was Scott Walker!

Jon Huntsman, darling of the Beltway Media, hawked by idiots like Mark Halperin and Moron Joe, quit his presidential race after an almost forgettable effort. Huntsman's low-key, low energy country banker persona simply failed to inspire voters. Nothing wrong with that, but he was less than memorable. Boring. Can anyone, even political junkies, name three things you recall about Jon Huntsman? Okay, the debate comeback, the motorcycle ad, and his Letterman performance of "Johnny B. Goode" on the piano. Speaking Mandarin, which few understood. That's four. Specific policy? Give me a minute. Or two.

Jon Huntsman was a retiring, pleasant fellow off to the side in the debates who preferred not to engage in the rough-and-tumble of presidential politics. That is commendable, and everyone agrees he's a swell guy. But president? When he did counterpunch, it established he could fight back, and little else. At the end of the day, Huntsman lacked the killer instinct to push through his opening and knock Romney down. Huntsman looked even more ridiculous than Romney wearing jeans and flannel shirts, given his slight build. (Voters sort of brush it off, but they can instantly spot a sartorial phony politician who's trying hard to look like he's prepared to get out there and chop wood.)

Mitt Romney, by contrast, embraced his phoniness while pretending to be a man of the people figuring, correctly, he'll get props for being a phony who tries hard. Openly ambitious. Huntsman felt uncomfortable playing the game. And knowing how to speak Mandarin was hardly an asset with the Republican electorate. Props to him and 4% in the South Carolina polls. But it was the realization that comedian Stephen Colbert coud finish ahead of him in the South Carolina Republican primary* that almost certainly influenced Huntsman's decision to drop out now.

The failure to overtake a comedian who is serious enough to form his own PAC and run political reality-satire ads in South Carolina would forever doom Jon Huntsman as a serious presidential aspirant. And he knows it. Such is the presidential race of 2012, defined by Super PACs and the Stephen Colbert effect.

*Stephen Colbert is not on the ballot, but his capacity to embarass Huntsman, whom he leads in the polls, with some comedic-reality stunt or another, is real.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Sniff, sniff. Pass Big Eddie the hankies, Homey. Was the boss in a pregame celebratory mood because Aaron's 'team of destiny' were confidently looking past that hoity-toity "Eastern team" to the League championship? Oops ... It seems no one bothered to check that this Giants team OWNED the Pack at Lambeau Field in 2008, led by Eli Manning. It's New York by the Green Bay, a touch of 'frozen tundra' heaven. Cheer up, Big Eddie. Better luck next year.

The Christian Right has a Santorum problem. One could even say, a Google Santorum problem. At their Texas confab in a fortified end-of-times bunker, euphemistically named “a Texas ranch,” the gathering of haters rejected their lovable Gomer Pyle favorite son governor for rabid dog prestidigitatin’ Big Eddie hypnotist Rick Santorum. The results were announced by Psycho star Tony Perkins, president of the ‘Family Research Council’.

But the thing about these religious fascists is, they’re not very good at vetting their candidates. Even considering the closed culture thing, the let’s-forgive-sex-sinners thing, the kill-the-gays and abortion thing … still. They should have known how WEIRD Rick Santorum really is — even by their forgiveness-is-divine standards. There’s the Santorums’ strange behavior regarding their still-born child, no matter how insensitive Alan Colmes was about it. There’s his wife’s life-saving procedure that resulted in the death of her fetus. Was it an abortion? Unclear, but it highlights Santorum’s extreme hypocrisy as he piously affirms his opposition to any medically induced abortion, even to save the life of the mother. Honestly, such hypocrisy is mind-boggling. But it’s par for the course for anti-abortion Republican extremists. Then, there’s the skeleton in wife’s closet: She lived in a non-married relationship with an abortion doctor who is 40 years her senior and also delivered her at birth. At the time, the 1970s, both Rick and his wife Karen were pro-choice. Weird.

Wait, there’s more! Quite apart from all the unsavory legal aspects of SuperPACS, there’s Santorum’s typically fake Republican “charity” PAC to line his own pockets. Finally, the coup de gras, as they say in, well, the Republicans' favorite European piñata: SHOCKER! The Santorum Clan in Italy of which he spoke so lovingly “were red communists to the core.”

“But on the other side of the ocean, it’s like his family here doesn’t exist. Instead he draws crowds as the head of the ultraconservative faction of the Republican party, against divorce, gay marriage, abortion, and immigration.

Those politics don’t play well in Riva del Garda, a community of ultraliberals. On the campaign trail, Santorum often touts his grandfather’s flight from Italy “to escape fascism,” but he has neglected to publicly mention their close ties with the Italian Communist Party,” according to Oggi Magazine journalist Guiseppe Fumagalli.

If rapturous Broncos fans and Jesus freaks were looking for another miracle from 'Touchdown Jesus' Tim Tebow yesterday, it didn't happen. New England's AWESOME quarterback Tom Brady SCHOOLED Tebow, throwing for a record-breaking FIVE touchdowns in the FIRST HALF. Game on; Game OVER.

Lesson for Timmy. Don't anger the stadium gods, because, in the end, they rule the day. In their league, you've got to earn your stripes the hard way — WINNING, not with a whole lot of Jesus hype and religious hocus-pocus. That was multiple Super Bowl winner Brady's not-so-subtle lesson #1 to upstart Tebow. Lesson #2: Don't piss Brady off! Tom Brady had the best day of his career, with a playoff record-tying six touchdowns, a playoff record 363 yards, and a 45-10 drubbing of Tebow's Broncos. Brady could've easily broken the record; but he was Christ-like in his mercy.

Tom Brady's Mephistophelean coach Bill Belichick is notorious for taking every underhanded, borderline fair play advantage he can to CRUSH his opposition, i.e., WIN. Yesterday he came out in his usual EE-VIL drab gray castaway look — with a twist. For no apparent reason he was slinking beneath his sinister HOODIE rather than a more benign woolen cap. Belichick looked a bit like the creepy Opus Dei albino killer warrior-monk in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. It worked. Timmy ran out of miracles and crashed back to earth, totally nonplussed, it seems, by Evil Bill, completing few pass attempts.

But the biggest, most disturbing turn-off, by far, was CBS airing a political ad with the Bible's Matthew 3:16 recited by children including a controversial anti-abortion message. Using children to actually verbalize the word "life" as a subtle anti-abortion message, is in my view highly inappropriate if not unethical. Whatever one's position, abortion is LEGAL in the U.S. From its inception, there has been a well-established separation of church and state in this country. But most important, the airing of one religion's anti-abortion message over another's in a sporting event broadcast to people of every religion, or none, to people who take both sides of the abortion issue, using children instead of adults in the messaging is shirking the broadcaster's responsibility for vetting its advertising content. Even FOX rejected airing similar ads, indicating it "does not accept advertising from religious organizations for the purpose of advancing particular beliefs or practices."

It was the classic battle of [Good(?)] versus EVIL. EVIL won, for being more genuine. By the way, it was the other game, Forty-Niners v. Saints, that was "one for the ages." Rock of Ages, man, and beware of false prophets, like 'Focus on The Family', that is.

This is hilarious. Mittens is reviled as a "Massacusetts moderate" (not true, unfortunately — there are NO moderates in the Republican Party) who signed into law basic, affordable health insurance ("Romneycare") that covers abortions and is universally popular with its citizens. Is endangered Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown running for re-election on a promise to support repeal of Romneycare? This is the health care Massachusetts citizens are required to carry, unlike the states of the uninsured whose "choice" is NONE or prohibitively expensive health insurance:

Commonwealth Care members get health services by enrolling in health plans. There are several plans to choose from. Each health plan offers the same medical benefits, plus some extras. Some plans are only available in certain parts of Massachusetts. Some plans cost more than other plans.

• dental care* (*this benefit is only for people with incomes at or below 100% FPG)

• emergency care including ambulance and out-of-state coverage

The health plan you choose may also offer extra services."

OH THE HUMANITY! Newt Gingrich and his paleolithic party think UNIVERSAL health care for Massachusetts citizens is a terrible thing; incidentally the World Health Organization ranks France #1 in health care while the U.S. places no higher than #36 — OH NO, Paleo-Repugnants, won't you PLEASE make it go higher?!:

Meanwhile, the Stephen Colbert SuperPAC run by his colleague Jon Stewart launched this 'Mitt The Ripper' ad (narration, John Lithgow) in South Carolina; no joke — Colbert is polling AHEAD of Jon Huntsman in the state, at 5% v. 4%: